Friday, May 15, 2009

The September 84-May 84 call spread that we are long could have been exited yesterday for as much as 4.60, yielding a theoretical gain of $310, since our adjusted cost basis on the four spreads was 3.82. (That includes a loss of about $150 on a September 76 that we also held.) If you still hold a partial position, exit at will today -- presumably at a profit, since May time premium will be melting away to zero with each tick of the clock.

The _____ target flagged here earlier remains valid, but please note that the futures are pulling back from within 3o cents of a lesser rally target at 59.77 that was reached earlier in

It would be hard to say whether the tepid rally of the last three weeks has been more aggravating for bulls or bears, but the former should continue to use _____ as a go-ahead signal, since that's what it would take to turn

Shortly after midnight, there weren't enough clues to try and second-guess Friday madness --only a minor downtrend with a flimsy-looking target at _____. Because it is derived from a pattern with a "sausage B," I wouldn't suggest that night owls go too far out on a limb to

I’m in New York once again for the annual spring meeting of the CMRE, the Committee for Monetary Reform and Education. This group attracts men and women from the investment community who share your editor’s disdain for fiat money and other falsehoods promoted by Big Government. Here’s the line-up of speakers at tonight’s dinner, along with program notes on each:   James Grant, publisher of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer.. On the record for the importance of The Gold Standard, Grant suggests Mr. Bernanke be asked to explain how the central-banking methods of the paper-dollar era represent any improvement, either in practice or theory, over the rigor, elegance, simplicity and predictability of the gold standard. (WSJ 12/20/08, Is the Medicine Worse Than the Illness?) Grant is incomparable with his knowledge of history as well as current issues..)     The Honorable Andrus Ansip, Prime Minister of Estonia. First elected in 2005 and reelected in 2007, Mr. Ansip has also worked in business and banking sectors. Before becoming Prime Minister, he served as Minister of Economy and Communications. A former Soviet-bloc nation, Estonia’s economy is ranked as one of the most free in the world, a remarkable feat for a former communist country. He has been a global leader for the Flat Tax movement. He recently led his country in a successful defense against a Russian computer based cyber attack thus winning the world’s first cyber war. His agenda is to continue Estonia’s policy of tight fiscal control, support for an unrestricted market economy, with markets open to the outside world and strong GDP growth.   Jack Willoughby, Editor, Barron’s, will speak on how “Europe’s Growing Crisis Puts the Fed at Risk”. Willoughby observes Europe’s commercial banks have more exposure to wounded emerging markets than U.S. counterparts. He contends one can debate